Teaching English as a foreign language to children

Tomorrow we are doing a lesson on English teaching. We will comment on two basic documents, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and the Primary English syllabus of the Balearic Islands.

But anyway, I would like to highlight some points that I always try to follow in my Primary English lessons. I strongly recommend the following pieces of advice:

1. Start working oral skills. Example: I like fish. It is good for me,
   
2. Sing - use songs to practise and learn vocabulary and grammar patterns
3. Storytelling. Examples: Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan in Neverland
   
4. Use pictures, gestures and body to explain meanings. Example: What's the weather like today?,
   
5. Do not translate
6. Use English as much as you can, especially at the lowest levels.
7. Introduce L1 only in difficult learning activities for example, when children have to think about grammar or about the way language works.
   
8. After having introduced oral skills, start with written skills
9. Write and draw lists of vocabulary
10. Check previous knowledge before introducing new contents. Example: Are there any computers in our school?
    
11. Integrate vocabulary into the related grammar patterns. Example:Ibizan animals
    
12. Use the language learned to communicate -although it is a simple and basic idea. Example: A tour around my town,
13. Take advantage of the festivals during the school year: Halloween, All Saints Day, Christmas
    
14. Introduce universal topics to meet CLIL standpoints: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Children's Day
    
15. Ask your students to do projects: specific final tasks in which students use all their language knowledge to achieve a goal -although it is a little goal. Examples: Introducing myself (oral project), My life (written project)
    
16. Ask your students to pay attention to the Art part of their final assignment/project/task. Example: My monster
    
17. Engage your students in doing their own Language Portfolio -electronic or not. Examples: Primary blogfolios
18. Use ICT to support your constructivist methodology
    
19. Work on children's attitude towards language learning and other important concepts: autonomous language learner, lifelong language learning, self-assessment. See the Portfolio web site to develop these standpoints.
    
20. Be a blogger. Create a blog for your subject. Example: We like English!

Interesting documents

Here you have got some interesting documents on e-learning:

HIGHSCHOOL.COM

BLENDED LEARNING GUIDE

LEARNING SOLUTIONS. E-MAGAZINE

DEFINING INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA DESIGN EDUCATION

And another really interesting matrix:

No Strings Attached: Wireless Laptops in Education.

TOP 100 TOOLS FOR LEARNING 2008

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2008 by the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies, Knowledge, Skills and Tools for the Learning 2.0 Age

Visit the web

Technology Integration Matrix

What is the Technology Integration Matrix?

The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) illustrates how teachers can use technology to enhance learning for K-12 students.

Technology Integration Matrix

Obama on Education

I think it could be a great language and teaching practice if we checked what Obama has said about Education during his compaign.

Would it be possible that a Spanish politician could say the same? Would Spanish teachers accept a plan like this?




Not bad...

NO CHILDREN PORNOGRAPHY

The Universal Children's Day is on 20th November. Post this picture on your blog to join the blogcampaign against pederasts.

Teaching through competence-based curriculum

Here are some documents about competences.
Our new law of education, LOE, focus on competence teaching as you all know.
But the Council of Europe has been developing the competence theory for a long time.
Here you've got some interesting documents about key competences.

KEY COMPETENCE FOR LIFELONG LEARNING. A EUROPEAN REFERENCE FRAMEWORK

Council conclusions on the European on the European Indicator of Language Comptenece

Don't forget the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages as it focus on linguistic comptence as we have said in older posts.